Ben Kuzma: Elias Pettersson's fire of desire has helped rev up the rebuild

The trouble with that summation by Don Cherry during his Saturday shtick on Hockey Night in Canada is that it doesn’t tell the true story of what makes the injured Vancouver Canucks centre tick.

Elias Pettersson nearly scored on a breakaway Thursday before being injured.Graham Hughes /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

It’s the fire in the belly of the Calder Trophy front-runner that often gets lost in the conversation because his remarkable playmaking and goal-scoring exploits dominate the highlight reels. His desire to be as good without the puck as he is with it has revved up the rebuild because the 20-year-old is making his teammates better by setting a sterling example of superlative two-way play.

When Pettersson suffered a mild MCL (medial collateral ligament) knee sprain Thursday in Montreal during an entanglement with fellow rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi — the slick Swede didn’t play Saturday in a 5-0 loss at Toronto in the finale of a 3-3 road trip and is sidelined one to two weeks — it led to Cherry taking issue with Pettersson’s pursuit on the play.

“He’s got to stop looking for trouble,” said Cherry. “He was looking for trouble there and it (injury) wouldn’t have happened. The guy got him down and just held on to him. He’s got to stop looking for trouble because if you do that in the National Hockey League, you’ll find it.”

Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson twists his right knee while falling on Montreal Canadiens center Jesperi Kotkaniemi during the second period of the NHL game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Montreal Canadiens on January 3, 2019, at the Bell Centre in Montreal.Icon Sportswire /
PNG

What Cherry didn’t say was Pettersson wasn’t looking for trouble, he was looking to retrieve a bouncing puck with an aggressive forecheck on Kotkaniemi along the end boards. It led to a hook from behind by the Canadiens centre in transition and Pettersson turning to make a right-shoulder response. As the pair spun and fell to ice, Pettersson’s right knee was bent backward.

“It was an accident,” said Pettersson, who has a 17-point lead in the rookie scoring race with 42 points (22-20) in 38 games, including seven game-winning goals and six on the power play. “We got tangled up. We both fell down. I got in an awkward position. It wasn’t a dirty play or anything.”

It was also a rite of passage.

Hooks, holds, grabbing and jabbing of star players is commonplace, but an exceptional rookie who can embarrass defenders in transition with deft stick handling, a strong stride and an instinct to think one play ahead, will keep Pettersson in the crosshairs. And if push comes to shove when he returns, there has to be a push back by his teammates.

It can’t be open season on Pettersson because his multi-layered game and three-zone awareness led to remarkable results on the six-game road trip. The opposition played him harder physically, but it didn’t slow him down. It only made him more determined.

In a 4-2 win in Edmonton on Dec. 27, Pettersson drew Darnell Nurse wide left off the rush, calmly corralled the puck and whipped a perfect blind cross-ice feed to Brock Boeser for a remarkable goal. After the Oilers closed the gap to 2-1, he took a pass at speed and from the left faceoff dot, a flick of the wrist found the tiny top-corner hole.

Two nights later in Calgary, the Canucks were down 2-1, being outplayed and outshot 20-8. Pettersson then let a wicked wrist shot fly to the far side that was in and out of the net in a flash. The 3-2 overtime win was cemented when Pettersson bolted back in the extra session to dive and break up a 2-1 rush before Alex Edler scored.

“That was Vancouver media’s biggest issue with me — that I wasn’t good in the defensive zone,” Pettersson said in a post-game delivery that again spoke to his drive to be a complete player.

“He works on that every day,” said Edler. “He’s a smart player and takes a lot of pride in playing good defensively, too.”

It culminated with Pettersson’s first career hat trick Wednesday in Ottawa that included the game-winner in a 4-3 overtime decision. It was a crowning achievement because while no one player makes a team, what Pettersson makes the Canucks is more competitive.

The sobering side of Saturday’s loss is that the Canucks have been blanked in three of their last four games and four of the last seven. They looked tired against the Maple Leafs because three games in four nights and six in 10 are going to take a toll on any club — especially the Canucks, who have managed an 11-12-3 road record and have played 26 or their 45 games away from Rogers Arena. But there are lingering concerns.

The offence has dried up, the power play is struggling, the defence was exposed Saturday and Jacob Markstrom had an off night by allowing two five-hole goals and one to the high short side.

Nikolay Goldobin has gone 11 games without a goal and has one in his last 18. Bo Horvat has shouldered an incredible load but has been blanked in seven games, same for Jake Virtanen. And the power play is 0-for-8 the past two outings and missed Pettersson’s presence.

The adage of good defence leading to offence is preached by every coach. Travis Green can go one better. He just has to show video of Pettersson’s persistence.

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